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03172015 NEWS AM
Trouble reading the news? Too wide for your CRT? Try the PDF format – rdb]
http://easttexasbiblicalprophecyforum.org/uploads/-_TODAYSNEWS.pdf - Note New link
THE GREEN DESERT BY AMIR ALONI
https://vimeo.com/120409349
"I care far more how humanity lives than how long. Progress, for me, means increasing
goodness and happiness of individual lives. For the species, as for each man, mere longevity
seems to me a contemptible ideal."
-- C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), British novelist
Read the Prophets & PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!
That is the only hope of this nation!
Please remember
these folks in prayerCheck often – they
change
Plead for Grace and Mercy
That the world would
WAKE
Time for a worldwide repentance!
U P.
ALL US soldiers fighting for our freedom around the world
Pray for those in our government to repent of their wicked corrupt ways.
Pray that the American people WAKE UP to the truth concerning our
government and take a positive act
Pray for BH ben R – surgery life threatening
Pray for BAM – Cancer treatment chemo
Pray for JA – Cancer treatment chemo and radiation – complications
Pray for CM – Severe liver failure
Pray for M B B –surgery for a tumor – Very difficult now more treatment
Pray that The Holy One will lead you in Your preparations for handling the
world problems. – Have YOU made any preparations?
2Samuel 13:8So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid down. And she
took flour, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes. 9And she took
a pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have out all
men from me. And they went out every man from him. 10And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring
the meat into the chamber, that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she
had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
Iraqi offensive for Tikrit stalls as casualties mount
By Loveday Morris March 16 at 5:49 PM
NAJAF, Iraq — Iraqi forces’ operation to retake the city of Tikrit has stalled as troops suffer heavy
casualties at the hands of Islamic State militants, raising concerns about whether the pro-government
fighters are ready for major offensives.
After two days of little activity on the battlefield, Iraq’s interior minister, Mohammed al-Ghabban, confirmed Monday
that the offensive has “temporarily stopped.” The steady flow of caskets arriving in Iraq’s Shiite holy city of Najaf
suggests a reason for the pause; cemetery workers say as many as 60 war dead have been arriving each day.
Since last week, Iraqi forces have hemmed in the Sunni militants in Tikrit, claiming control of the majority of the
former Islamic State stronghold. But the operation has come at a cost, with soldiers saying the fight has
been tougher than expected. As the momentum has slowed, some Iraqi officials have begun to publicly
call for U.S.-led air support.
While Iraqi officials still express confidence that they can retake the city, the stuttering offensive does not bode well
for the more complex battles for the city of Mosul and for militant-held areas of Anbar province that were expected to
begin in coming months.
“It’s a furious fight, harder than we thought,” said Taher Sabah, a 25-year-old militiaman with the Shiite Badr
Organization, who arrived in Najaf on Sunday to lay his father to rest after he was killed near Tikrit the night before.
“It’s taking so long,” he said. “But we’ll keep going.”
The Iraqi government is not providing casualty figures from the battle. But Najaf’s Wadi al-Salaam cemetery, the
largest in the world, is the final resting place for the majority of Iraq’s Shiites and, given the largely Shiite makeup of the
country’s security forces, a large number of the pro-government battlefield casualties.
As dusk fell Sunday evening at Najaf’s Imam Ali shrine, where the dead are taken before being buried, four caskets —
shrouded in flags to signal that they contained the bodies of fighters who had made the ultimate sacrifice for their country
— arrived within 20 minutes.
Measuring the toll
Sabah’s father was shot dead with two of his fellow combatants as they tried to clear a building in the town of Alam
near Tikrit, not realizing that 17 Islamic State militants were holed up inside, his family said.
Wearing his military fatigues and with a flag draped over his shoulders, Sabah struggled along with his relatives to
carry the casket through the maze of graves at the cemetery. They lifted it over tombs from Iraq’s previous conflicts —
the dead from the eight-year war with Iran, those killed fighting the U.S. occupation and the victims of the sectarian
bloodletting that followed the invasion.
The cemetery’s reception office has recorded 127 battlefield deaths since the start of the Tikrit offensive at the
beginning of the month. But that does not include numbers for the largest Shiite militias — the Badr Organization, Asaib
Ahl al-Haq and Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Peace Brigades — which record their figures separately.
At the cemetery’s washing stations, where most bodies are taken to be prepared for burial, workers say the numbers
are higher.
Iraqi forces launch offensive to retake Tikrit
Gaining control of the northern city, captured by the Islamic State in June, would be a key step in pushing out the
militants. MORE - http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqi-offensive-for-tikrit-stalls-as-islamic-state-inflictscasualties/2015/03/16/258a6dec-cb58-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_story.html [Once again things don’t seem to be going to well
in the ISIS battle. – rdb]
US intel report scrapped Iran from list of terror threats
Softened assessment, submitted in February, comes amid marathon nuclear talks, shared interests vis-a-vis the Islamic
State
By Times of Israel staff March 16, 2015, 2:59 am
An annual report delivered recently to the US Senate by James Clapper, the director of National
Intelligence, removed Iran and Hezbollah from its list of terrorism threats, after years in which they
featured in similar reports.
The unclassified version of the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Communities, dated February 26,
2015 (PDF), noted Iran’s efforts to combat Sunni extremists, including those of the ultra-radical Islamic State group, who
were perceived to constitute the preeminent terrorist threat to American interests worldwide.
In describing Iran’s regional role, the report noted the Islamic Republic’s “intentions to dampen
sectarianism, build responsive partners, and deescalate tensions with Saudi Arabia,” but
cautioned that “Iranian leaders—particularly within the security services—are pursuing policies with
negative secondary consequences for regional stability and potentially for Iran.
“Iran’s actions to protect and empower Shia communities are fueling growing fears and sectarian
responses,” it said. [Then why did you remove them? – rdb]
The United States and other Western nations, along with a coalition of regional allies, both Sunni and Shiite, has been
launching attacks against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria in recent months. The Sunni group, also known by its
acronyms IS, ISIS and ISIL, is an offshoot of al-Qaeda that has carved out a self-proclaimed caliphate across large swaths
of Syria and Iraq, both of whose governments are allied with Iran’s.
The Shiite Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is funded and mentored by Tehran, has been fighting the Islamic State,
independently of the American-led campaign, both in Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, the US has been engaged in marathon talks with Iran in an effort to reach an agreement on its nuclear
program. Tehran, according to the National Intelligence threat assessment, has “overarching strategic goals of enhancing
its security, prestige, and regional influence [that] have led it to pursue capabilities to meet its civilian goals and give it the
ability to build missile-deliverable nuclear weapons, if it chooses to do so.” MORE - http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-reportscraps-iran-hezbollah-from-list-of-terror-threats/ [Just absolutely brilliant. Once again this administration plays lose
and free with their desire to come to some agreement because they have not ability nor stomach to
really deal with the issue. – rdb]
Iran reportedly confronts US officials at Geneva nuclear talks over GOP letter
Published March 17, 2015 FoxNews.com
Iranian officials reportedly have confronted their U.S. counterparts twice over an open letter from
Republican senators to Tehran that warned any agreement on Iran's nuclear program would be unlikely
to last beyond President Barack Obama's term of office.
The Associated Press, citing a senior U.S. official, reported that the letter, which was signed by 47 of 54 GOP
members, first came up in negotiations on Sunday and was raised again Monday in discussions led by Secretary of State
John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
Zarif was quoted by Iranian state media after the meeting as saying the topics included the potential speed of a
softening of U.S. economic sanctions and the new issue of the letter from the senators. "It is necessary that the stance of
the U.S. administration be defined about this move," he was quoted as saying. [Thank heavens the renegade group
lead by Cotton sent the letter because it may have just put a wrench in this foul deal. – rdb]
Kerry and Zarif met for nearly five hours in Lausanne, the start of several planned days of discussions. Most of the
Iranians then departed for Brussels, where they were to meet with European negotiators.
In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that "we are entering a crucial time, a crucial two
weeks." And German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that after "more than 10 years of negotiations, we
should seize this opportunity." [Every time one of these ‘diplomatic wizards’ opens their mouth it is always
a ‘crucial time’. The crucial time is when you sign a deal which throws the entire world into the great
abyss. – rdb]
"There are areas where we've made progress, areas where we have yet to make any progress," British Foreign
Secretary Philip Hammond said. "But the fact that we're all here talking shows the commitment on both sides to try to
reach an agreement."
In Lausanne, the U.S. official wouldn't say how much time the sides spent talking about the letter drafted seven days
ago by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. The Iranians have called the letter a propaganda ploy, and Zarif joked last
week that some U.S. legislators didn't understand their own Constitution. The Obama administration has called the letter
"ill timed" and "ill advised," coming weeks before the deadline for a preliminary agreement with Iran on its nuclear
program.
Cotton isn't backing down. In his maiden speech in the Senate, Cotton reiterated his view that the
deal being discussed would pave Iran's path to a nuclear bomb. "Iran is an outlaw regime. ...
Unsurprising, Iran is only growing bolder and more aggressive as America retreats from the Middle
East," Cotton said, adding that Iranian leaders continue to call for Israel's elimination and that Iran is
meddling in other nations, including Syria and Iraq.
The U.S. official in Lausanne, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and briefed reporters only on
condition of anonymity, said that in the end, the talks and a potential agreement depend on Iran showing the world that its
nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.
The goal for a full agreement is the end of June.
Republicans argue that a deal would be insufficient and unenforceable, allowing Iran to eventually
become a nuclear-armed state. To that end, they've delivered a series of proposals to undercut or
block an agreement, including ones that would require Senate say-so on a deal and order new sanctions against Iran
while negotiations are underway.
Cotton's letter, the administration and congressional Democrats argue, went further, interfering in the president's
execution of U.S. foreign policy. The letter, styled as a U.S. civics lesson, warned Iranian leaders that any deal negotiated
by the current administration could be tossed by Obama's successor.
Obama and other officials insist they're not going to make any deal that would allow Iran to acquire
nuclear weapons. [The BHObamanation has lied and been on the wrong side of history and for sure
The Bible since the day he stole the absconded with his office. – rdb]
The agreement taking shape would limit Iran's uranium enrichment and other nuclear activity for at least a decade,
with the restrictions slowly lifted over several years. Washington and other world powers also would gradually scale back
sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. Tehran says it is only interested in peaceful energy generation and
medical research, but much of the world suspects it harbors nuclear weapons ambitions.
Kerry and Zarif plan to regroup in Lausanne on Tuesday. The U.S. secretary of state is to return to Washington by
week's end for talks with Afghanistan's leaders, and the Iranians plan to break for the Persian New Year. Officials say
talks might restart sometime next week, if necessary. A deal would also require the approval of America's negotiating
partners: Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
With little time remaining before the end of March, some officials have said the persistent differences mean
negotiators will likely settle for an announcement that they've made enough progress to justify further talks.
Such a declaration would hardly satisfy U.S. critics of the Obama administration's efforts. But the
senior American official said the goal was to determine by the end of March "if we can get to a political
framework that addresses the major elements of a comprehensive deal."
Back in Washington, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said his panel will likely vote on a bill next week that would require a congressional review
of any nuclear deal. The measure would require the president to submit the text of any pact to Congress and bar the
administration from suspending congressional sanctions on Iran for 60 days. In that time, Congress would hold hearings
and have a chance to approve, disapprove or take no action on the agreement. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/17/iranreportedly-confronts-us-officials-at-geneva-nuclear-talks-over-gop-letter/
‘Rollercoaster’ Iran nuclear talks in the balance
Officials express doubts that deal will be reached by the March 31 deadline
By danny kemp, Nicolas Revise and Simon Sturdee March 17, 2015, 12:44 am
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Iran nuclear talks hung in the balance Monday with a senior US official
saying it remained unclear whether the outlines of a deal could be agreed by a March 31 deadline.
After a five-hour meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, the official said Iran
still had “very tough choices” to make. “Iran still needs to make some very tough and necessary choices,”
the official said in the Swiss city of Lausanne where the crucial round of talks was being held this week. “We still
hope to be able to get there but quite frankly we still don’t know if we will be able to,” the official said
on condition of anonymity, likening the talks to a “rollercoaster.”
Iran and six world powers are pushing to reach by the end of the month what the official called a “political framework
that addresses the major elements of a comprehensive deal.”
Such an accord would reduce in scale Iran’s nuclear program in order to ease fears that it might develop atomic
weapons in exchange for sanctions relief. A full deal is due by July.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif later flew to Brussels for talks with European foreign ministers and
the diplomatic chief of the EU, Federica Mogherini.
Mogherini said “the deal is not agreed until every single part of the deal is agreed on.”
“There have been advances but there are still important points which have not been resolved and
we will see if we can move forward,” added French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
Zarif was due to return to Lausanne late Monday and hold further talks with Kerry on Tuesday, when political
directors from the other five powers — Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — will start to arrive.
Rouhani thaw
The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations for 35 years but the 2013 election of President Hassan
Rouhani resulted in a minor thaw and a diplomatic push to resolve the more than decade-old nuclear standoff.
Under a landmark November 2013 interim deal with the “P5+1″ powers, Tehran stopped expanding
its activities in return for minor sanctions relief.
Since then the parties have been pushing for a lasting accord.
But to the alarm of Iran’s foe Israel, US Republicans and Washington’s Gulf allies, the US looks to
have abandoned demands that Iran dismantle all nuclear activities. Instead it appears prepared to tolerate a
small program under tight controls and potentially shipping abroad some of Iran’s nuclear material, possibly to Russia.
Critics say that in theory this still leaves Iran with the possibility to get the bomb.
Iran says its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful. MORE - http://www.timesofisrael.com/rollercoaster-iran-nuclear-talks-inthe-balance/
Livni forgoes rotating premiership with Herzog
Zionist Union’s No. 2 drops bombshell 12 hours before election; Netanyahu, Herzog accuse each other of ‘panicking’
By Marissa Newman March 16, 2015, 8:04 pm
The Zionist Union’s Tzipi Livni announced Monday evening that she would give up the rotation of
the premiership with the slate’s leader, Isaac Herzog, an agreement the two made months ago when
her Hatnua party merged with his Labor Party.
In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the party was “panicking,” while Yesh Atid party leader Yair
Lapid and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett said the move indicated the Zionist Union was planning to form a
unity government with Netanyahu’s Likud. That claim was subsequently rejected by Herzog as “claptrap.”
The bombshell came 12 hours before polling stations were set to open, in an apparent lastditch effort to garner additional votes.
Livni said the rotation agreement ought not interfere with her party’s main task: replacing Netanyahu’s Likud party.
In a response to the announcement, Netanyahu told Channel 2 that the decision reflected the Zionist Union’s “panic”
— an accusation echoed by Herzog, who in turn said Netanyahu was the one “panicking.”
Netanyahu told the TV station that the move proved two things: “One, that they’re lying. Either they
lied earlier [when they announced the rotation], or they’re lying now. And the second thing is that they
can’t deal with any pressure. They can’t deal with the pressure of the polls; how will they be able to deal with
international pressure?” [Bibi – they are liberal politicians and did what politicians do – Change horses in
the middle of the stream and then deny they said something or give some lame excuse. – rdb]
Shortly after the announcement, Bennett predicted that the decision to give up the rotation signaled that the Zionist
Union would form a unity government with Likud, implying that a vote for his right-wing party could help prevent such
an outcome. Lapid, similarly, told the TV station the move signaled that a national unity government between the two
large parties, as well as the ultra-Orthodox parties, was in the works.
Herzog denied the allegations as “nonsense” in a telephone interview with Channel 2. He said the decision was not a
matter of “last-minute pressure,” and that “Livni nobly and bravely told me this initially on Saturday.
“Ultimately, she approached me today and told me honestly — if the rotation is in some way an obstacle to the
establishment of the government, I won’t stand in the way,” he said.
Livni, No. 2 on the Zionist Union list, had initially agreed to a two-year rotation of the premiership if the Zionist Union
was tasked with forming the coalition. The Hatnua-Labor merger was criticized by members of the Labor Party, who said
that Livni was getting more than she offered to the party. However, the political union, and subsequent re-branding of the
party, sparked a surge in the polls.
On Sunday, Haaretz reported that during a Zionist Union campaign meeting, Livni said she was willing to forgo the
rotation. But strategist Reuven Adler opined that such a move, announced so close to the election, would be detrimental.
Two hours before the announcement, Herzog emphatically denied that the two were set to cancel the rotation agreement.
“There was no discussion about [whether to cancel the rotation] in the past week. It’s not on the agenda, period. The
partnership between Livni and me brought us to [where we are] today. It is an important partnership,” Herzog told Army
Radio.
The Likud party had bashed the alliance between Herzog and Livni, a former Likud member herself. Throughout the
campaign, the party repeatedly commented on Livni’s “disappearance” from the public eye, a move that she explained
several weeks ago as a tactic to keep the spotlight on Herzog, who, she said, was less well-known than she.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/livni-forgoes-premiership-rotation-with-herzog/
Now interested in vote, Palestinians divided over who to root for
Hamas wants Netanyahu to stay, some in the PA want a Herzog win, and the Arab media can’t get enough of the tight
race
By Avi Issacharoff March 17, 2015, 12:56 pm
Shortly after 7 a.m., my cellphone begins to ring. It’s a blocked number. A Palestinian official wants to hear about the
latest political developments in Israel.
For the Palestinian Authority as well as Israel, Tuesday is a decisive day.
In the past 48 hours, the Palestinian public has become interested in the Israeli elections. Perhaps the possibility of a
revolution has shaken everyone out of their complacency.
Decision-makers and the media in the Arab world have expressed endless interest in the smallest
details about the election, including the anticipated nightmare of coalition-building, the possibility of a
unity government, and what some in the Arab world perceive will become a deadlocked government.
One of the most prominent examples Tuesday morning is an article on the website of the Saudi satellite channel AlArabiya, which highlighted Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog’s Egyptian heritage.
“The Egyptian figure threatening Netanyahu in the election,” the headline reads, referencing Ora Herzog, the prime
ministerial hopeful’s mother who was born in the Egyptian city of Ismailia.
Al-Arabiya reports that Ora’s family was exiled to Ismailia in 1915 when the country was under Ottoman rule, where it
resided for many years and where she was born in 1924. She studied in a French school in the city, and learned Egyptian
Arabic. The article proceeds to elaborate on the accomplishments of the Herzog family, likening it to the Kennedys, and
Herzog is featured in a number of flattering photos.
But the interest does not end there. Al-Jazeera, its Qatari competitor, deals with the elections at length, as well as on
remarks Netanyahu made on Monday nixing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Al-Jazeera has a number of special broadcasts scheduled throughout the day for the Israeli
election. Three satellite trucks have been set up nationwide and at 10 p.m., said Walid al-Omri, the head of the AlJazeera office in Israel, there will be live broadcasts from the Likud, Zionist Union, and Joint (Arab) List headquarters.
Netanyahu’s remarks against a Palestinian state have also roused the Palestinian chief negotiator from his slumber. Up
until Monday, Saeb Erekat kept up a suspicious silence, but last night, he could no longer hold back and attacked the
prime minister for his statements.
Among the Palestinian leadership, there is no consensus on who the “ideal” Israeli prime minister is
for them.
Hamas wants a Netanyahu victory, since any peace talks between the PA and Israel will compromise
the group’s political standing.
Even many Fatah officials prefer a Netanyahu win, since in their eyes it will help the diplomatic fight
against Israel. A Herzog victory and a narrow coalition cannot lead to dramatic change on the Palestinian front, they
maintain, and certainly a unity government between Likud and the Zionist Union will not change the current situation at
all.
However, no small number of Palestinian officials say they are hopeful that Herzog will be able to
form a coalition with the backing of the Joint List, expected to be the third-largest party.
Egypt and Jordan have adopted a slightly different position. They have learned to deal with Netanyahu during the past
months, but the lack of a diplomatic process with the Palestinians and Netanyahu’s latest comments have made it clear to
them that if a right-wing government should be established, there will be no quiet on the Palestinian front.
Cairo also doesn’t like the conciliatory policies of Netanyahu toward the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.
The main headline of the Palestinian Ma’an news agency Tuesday morning is on the election. The editor of the
website, Nasser Laham, said there is immense interest in the election, including among the Palestinians. Everyone,
without exception, is “against Netanyahu,” he said.
“It’s not true that people are not interested. They want change. Netanyahu has become more hated than [Ariel] Sharon,
who until now was the most hated Israeli prime minister. Social media is full of posts about elections,” he said. “The TV
stations, radio. Every broadcasting truck has been used in the past days to cover the elections. Everyone wants Netanyahu
to fall, even Hamas.”
The moderate Arab states’ concern about a right-wing government in Israel is no secret.
Officials in Amman, Riyadh, UAE, Cairo and Ramallah believe that a Netanyahu-Bennett-Liberman
government would make more conflict with the Palestinians unavoidable, leading to an
eventual deterioration of ties with Israel. http://www.timesofisrael.com/now-interested-in-vote-palestinians-divided-over-who-toroot-for/ [If the arab countries don’t want Bibi then he must be the man for the job. – rdb]
Five things to know about the Israeli elections
It won’t be over until the ballots have all been counted — and even then anything could happen
By JTA and Times of Israel staff March 17, 2015, 1:54 am
As Israelis head to the polls on Tuesday to vote for the 20th Knesset, the Israeli parliament, following are several key
points worth emphasizing.
1. It’s too close to call.
With Israelis headed to the polls the race remains tight. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is
trailing Isaac Herzog’s center-left Zionist Union by a few percentage points and is expected to come in second. Five of six
polls released Friday gave Zionist Union a four-seat lead, commanding 24 to 26 seats in the next Knesset compared to
Likud’s 20 to 22 seats. A sixth poll, from the Israeli news site Walla, showed Zionist Union with a two-seat margin over
Likud, 25 to 23.
Netanyahu, who sailed to a comfortable victory in the last election, in 2013, has been hit hard on Israel’s high cost of
living, a festering housing crisis and his handling of relations with the United States and the Iranian nuclear threat. Herzog
has built his campaign on those attacks, but a perceived dearth of charisma has kept him from widening his lead in the
polls.
More importantly, neither the Likud nor the Zionist Union is slated to get more than a quarter of the Knesset’s 120
seats. To become prime minister, someone will have to cobble together a majority coalition. Which is why…
2. Tuesday’s winner might not be the party with the most votes.
This isn’t a two-way race. It’s an 11-way race. And the winner isn’t the party with the most votes, but the one that can
unite several smaller parties together into a governing coalition. In 2009, Netanyahu became prime minister even though
the Likud came in second on Election Day.
Eleven parties are expected to get the minimum 3.25 percent of votes needed to enter the Knesset. They range from the
Joint Arab List to the staunchly leftist Meretz to the Sephardi haredi Shas to the pro-settler Jewish Home. About half are
right-wing or religious, and have historically caucused with the Likud. The other half are left-wing, centrist or ArabIsraeli.
3. There’s usually a surprise on election night.
Polls have been pretty stable for the past couple of months, but that doesn’t mean we know how the vote will come out
tomorrow. Up to one-quarter of voters, according to some surveys, are undecided. And in the past few elections, many of
those voters have swung to a party that ends up doing much better than predicted.
In 2013, that party was Yesh Atid, which polled at 12 or 13 seats ahead of the election — and won 19. In 2009, it was
the centrist Kadima, which won 28 after polling at 23, coming in first place (but then sitting in the opposition). In 2006, it
was the little-known Pensioners’ Party, which ran away with seven seats that mostly came from protest votes. If voters do
deliver a surprise, it could catapult an unexpected party to newfound prominence and complicate the coalition math for
both Herzog and Netanyahu.
4. Expect the Arab Israeli party, the Joint Arab List, to make a splash.
A law raising the vote threshold last year forced the four Arab parties — from the Islamist Ta’al to the Arab-Jewish
communist Hadash — to unite into the Joint List. Unification turned the Joint List into a major political force that appears
poised to galvanize Arab-Israelis — who usually have comparatively lower voter turnout than Israeli Jews — to go to the
polls. The Joint List is polling in third place and might receive as many as 15 seats tomorrow.
The Joint List has vowed to sit in the opposition no matter what, but it could still influence who forms the next
government by preventing the right-wing from garnering a 61-seat majority. That scenario could lead Zionist Union and
Likud to create a unity government, which would make the Joint List the biggest opposition party.
5. We’ll know who the next prime minister is only a few weeks from now.
Unlike US elections, in which a clear candidate (usually) emerges victorious, Tuesday is just one phase of a drawn-out
process in Israel. After the votes come in, parties will unite behind their preferred prime minister no matter who came in
first. Israel’s president will then select the party leader with the largest supporting bloc to form a government.
The chosen leader gets up to two months to form a majority coalition, an often unpredictable process in which deals
are cut and ministries and other influential posts doled out. In 2013, elections in late January yielded a coalition only in
mid-March, even though Netanyahu won by a wide margin. Pundits are predicting a Netanyahu reelection because the
right-wing bloc may again win a majority — even if Likud itself comes in second. But with a couple parties staying mum
on which candidate they support, it’s impossible to know how the race is going to play out. http://www.timesofisrael.com/fivethings-to-know-about-the-israeli-elections/ [From this you should be able to discern how amazingly complicated the
Israeli electoral process is. – rdb]
26.5% voter turnout in Israel elections by midday
In highest voter turnout since 1999 elections, 13.7 percent of Israel's eligible voters cast ballots by 10 am, compared to
11.4 percent in last election.
Moran Azulay
Latest Update: 03.17.15, 13:00 / Israel News
An estimated 26.5 percent of Israel's eligible voters cast their ballots at polling stations throughout Israel by 12pm
Tuesday. Earlier in the day, a new record turnout was recorded when some 13.7 percent voted in the first three hours of
polling, the highest since the 1999 elections.
In comparison, some 26.7 percent voted by 12pm in the 2013 election,
and a voter turnout of 11.4 percent was recorded by 10am. But while the
2013 data refers to a selection of some 400 polling stations, the 2015 data
is drawn from some 9,000 (of 10,000) polling stations.
Polls opened at 7am in more than 10,000 locations across the country.
Up for grabs are the 120 seats in the Knesset and the reins of leadership
of the entire country, with the party winning the most seats traditionally
securing the first invitation from the president - currently former Likud
stalwart Reuven Rivlin - to form a new coalition government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has been trailing in
the polls, between three to five seats behind the newly amalgamated
Labor party, led by Isaac Herzog, and Hatnuah, headed by Tzipi Livni.
The new joint list, Zionist Union, has maintained an almost consistent
lead in the opinion polls since mid-February.
Israel has been preparing for its second national vote as many years since
December, when Netanyahu fired his senior coalition partners
- Livni and Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid - and declared elections.
The 5,883,365 Israelis registered to vote can do so in one of
10,119 locations, of which 2,500 have wheelchair access.
Unlike in the US and Britain, Israelis serving a custodial
sentence are allowed to vote, and 56 ballot boxes have been set
up in 27 different prisons around the country. Another 255
ballot boxes have been set up in hospitals around Israel.
Of the party leaders, Lapid was voting in Ramat Aviv,
Netanyahu was to cast his ballot in Jerusalem, Herzog and
Livni in northern Tel Aviv.
Again, as opposed the US and UK, Israelis who do not live
in Israel cannot cast a vote from abroad, and in recent days,
Final poll by Ynet sister publication ahead of the elections.
many have flown into the country in order to exercise their electoral privilege.
Voting has actually started already, with serving IDF soldiers and
members of the diplomatic corps casting their ballots as early as March
4. (Diplomats based abroad are the only Israelis allowed to vote outside
the country.)
Voters are asked to choose one from the 25 parties competing for
seats in parliament. The number of votes given to each party - provided
it passes the 3.25% of the total vote needed to secure at least one spot in
the Knesset - determines how many seats it gets in total.
The polls close at 10pm, at which time the three
main television channels will publish their exit polls. The final results begin to trickle in on Wednesday morning, when
the results after a 90-percent count are released. On Thursday, the results after a 99-percent count will be published, and
final full count will be presented to President Rivlin on Thursday, March 25.
Anyone wishing to contest the results will have until April 8 to petition the courts.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4637591,00.html
EU to name new special envoy to Mideast peace process
Italian-born Fernando Gentilini has no background in Israeli-Palestinian talks, but seen as expert in conflict
resolution
By Raphael Ahren March 16, 2015, 4:34 pm
The European Union is expected to appoint an Italian-born diplomat as the group’s new chief envoy to the Middle East
peace process, The Times of Israel has learned.
Fernando Gentilini, who previously served as the EU’s special representative in Kosovo, has never
been directly involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but sources say the Europeans appointed him
because he’s an expert on mediation and conflict resolution.
Gentilini’s appointment is to be announced by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, on Monday at the
Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
As new EU special representative to Middle East peace process, Gentilini would succeed the German-born Andreas
Reinicke, who served in that capacity between February 2012 and June 2013.
Sources in Jerusalem said Gentilini has no background in Middle East affairs and that, as of now, it is unclear
what mandate he will receive. Therefore, the sources added, it is impossible to know what to expect from his appointment.
Reinicke’s mandate included contributing “to achieving the EU’s policy objectives in the region, including a
comprehensive peace, a two-state solution and a settlement of the Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Lebanese conflicts.” It is
unclear whether Gentilini will receive the same mandate.
The EU’s special representative to Middle East peace process will act as the EU envoy to the Middle East Quartet.
As opposed to previous diplomats who filled that role, Gentilini is not a diplomat from a member state switching to the
EU but has been working within the union’s External Action Service for over a decade.
Born in Rome in 1962, Gentilini become the EU foreign policy chief’s special envoy to Kosovo in 2004. Later he
served as NATO senior civilian representative in Afghanistan. Currently, he is the director for Western Europe, Western
Balkans and Turkey at the EU’s External Action Service. http://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-to-name-new-special-envoy-to-mideastpeace-process/
Fatah official urges Israeli Arabs to vote for Joint List
Breaking policy of non-intervention, former Palestinian minister implores citizens to fight ‘racism’ with the ballot
By Elhanan Miller March 16, 2015, 6:17 pm
Breaking with his movement’s policy of non-intervention in Israeli politics, a Fatah official called on Arab Israelis to
vote for the Joint (Arab) List on Tuesday in response to Israel’s “fascism and racism.”
Hatem Abdul Qader, a former Palestinian minister who holds Fatah’s Jerusalem portfolio, said that
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman “must hear the response
of the Arabic public to their fascism and racism through the ballot boxes.”
Palestinian politicians have traditionally refrained from commenting on Israeli elections, but Abdul Qader told the
independent Ma’an news agency that the unification of three Arab lists has granted Israel’s Palestinian minority an
opportunity that should not be squandered.
“The Arab parties have put their differences aside and united in one national list. This crucial battle
should win them the support of the Arab masses, a battle which will determine the destiny of Arabs in Israel,
whether they will remain marginalized or become an active force capable of influencing and claiming their rights,” he
said.
Another recent call to action by a non-Israeli Arab leader was not well-received. When Lebanese Druze leader Walid
Jumblatt called on his coreligionists in Israel to vote for the Joint (Arab) List and seize “the rare opportunity to reinforce
Arab society and unite its vision on the Arab-Israeli conflict,” he was rebuffed by former Israeli deputy foreign minister
Majali Wahbeh, who told him via an interview to Israel Radio to “mind his own business.”
The liberal Lebanese daily An-Nahar dedicated an editorial to the Israeli elections Monday, titled “Say ‘yes’ to the
Joint (Arab) List.”
“Tomorrow Israelis will elect the members of their twentieth Knesset. At this time, all eyes turn to the Arab public,
which finds itself facing a historic opportunity to change the political balance and assert the absent Palestinian presence in
Israel,” the editorial read, ending with a hope that Israel’s elections will inspire the stagnant political arena in the
Palestinian territories.
“An Israeli Arab vote for the Joint Arab List can be the start of a Palestinian awakening, a unique revival the echo of
which will inevitably reach the Palestinian street, which suffers from disunity and fragmentation in Gaza and the West
Bank,” it read. “Tomorrow, all Arabs eligible to vote must head to the polling stations and give their ballots to the Joint
Arab List.” http://www.timesofisrael.com/fatah-official-urges-israeli-arabs-to-vote-for-joint-list/
Arafat was not poisoned, French prosecutor says
By JTA \
03/17/2015 13:21
The French experts “maintain that the polonium 210 and lead 210 found in Arafat’s grave and in the samples are of
an environmental nature.”
A French prosecutor said that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat did not die of poisoning.
The prosecutor told the French news agency AFP that French experts found that Arafat was not poisoned, despite
rumors to the contrary.
Arafat’s widow, Suha, had filed legal action in July 2012 asking French authorities in the western Paris suburb of
Nanterre to look into claims that her husband was poisoned. Traces of radioactive polonium were found on Arafat’s
belongings.
French prosecutors in August 2012 opened a murder inquiry into the death of Arafat. After the opening of the inquiry,
Arafat’s tomb in Ramallah was opened to allow teams of French, Swiss and Russian investigators to collect samples.
Suha Arafat based her lawsuit on a 108-page report released to her by the University Centre of Legal Medicine in
Lausanne, Switzerland, which maintains that the theory that Arafat was poisoned is most consistent with their results.
Russian experts have maintained that Arafat was not poisoned.
The French experts “maintain that the polonium 210 and lead 210 found in Arafat’s grave and in the samples are of an
environmental nature,” Nanterre prosecutor Catherine Denis told AFP.
Arafat led the Palestine Liberation Organization for 35 years and became the first president of the Palestinian
Authority in 1996. He fell violently ill in October 2004 and died two weeks later, at the age of 75, in a Paris military
hospital.
The medical report published after Arafat’s death listed the immediate cause as a massive brain hemorrhage resulting
from an infection. Doctors ruled out foul play; some had contended that Arafat died of AIDS.
Many Palestinians continue to believe that Arafat was poisoned by Israel because he was an obstacle to peace. Israel
has denied any involvement. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Arafat-was-not-poisoned-French-prosecutor-says-394173 [No
matter what happens, the result will always be ‘the Jews did it’ in the arab mind. – rdb]
Europeans defy US to join China-led development bank
George Parker in London, Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris and Geoff Dyer in Washington
France, Germany and Italy have all agreed to follow Britain’s lead and join a China-led international
development bank, according to European officials, delivering a blow to US efforts to keep leading
western countries out of the new institution.
The decision by the three European governments comes after Britain announced last week that it would join the $50bn
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a potential rival to the Washington-based World Bank.
Australia, a key US ally in the Asia-Pacific region which had come under pressure from Washington to
stay out of the new bank, has also said that it will now rethink that position.
The European decisions represent a significant setback for the Obama administration, which has argued that western
countries could have more influence over the workings of the new bank if they stayed together on the outside and pushed
for higher lending standards.
The AIIB, which was formally launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year, is one element of
a broader Chinese push to create new financial and economic institutions that will increase its
international influence. It has become a central issue in the growing contest between China and the US
over who will define the economic and trade rules in Asia over the coming decades.
When Britain announced its decision to join the AIIB last week, the Obama administration told the Financial Times
that it was part of a broader trend of “constant accommodation” by London of China. British officials were relatively
restrained in their criticism of China over its handling of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong last year.
Britain tried to gain “first mover advantage” last week by signing up to the fledgling Chinese-led bank before other G7
members. The UK government claimed it had to move quickly because of the impending May 7 general election. The
move by George Osborne, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, won plaudits in Beijing.
Britain hopes to establish itself as the number one destination for Chinese investment and UK
officials were unrepentant. One suggested that the White House criticism of Britain was a case of sour grapes: “They
couldn’t have got congressional approval to join the AIIB, even if they wanted to.”
The US Treasury has voiced concerns about governance at the new bank, especially the environmental and social
standards it attaches to its loans. It said it was worried that the AIIB could become a “low-quality” institution.
Privately, US and Australian officials have suggested that the British decision to break ranks and join the bank was
driven by commercial considerations and that London was blind to the broader geopolitical implications in the AsiaPacific region.
South Korean media have reported that Seoul will also now rethink its decision not to join the AIIB. Japan, the US ally
in the region that is most worried by China’s growing influence, is not expected to become a member.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0655b342-cc29-11e4-beca-00144feab7de.html#axzz3UbeJ0xny [Just one more step in the loss of
US hegemony in the financial realm and the loss of the dollar as the benchmark currency. – rdb]
Hedge fund manager: It's a 'truly scary time'
Lawrence Delevingne | 8 Hours Ago
A hedge fund manager who warned about the last financial crisis is seeing parallels of that run-up in the market today.
"I think it is a truly scary time," Andy Redleaf, CEO of $4.2 billion hedge and mutual fund manager
Whitebox Advisors, said in an internal memo Sunday night obtained by CNBC.com. Redleaf wrote that the
stimulus used to put fresh money in markets could end poorly, just like loose credit standards in housing before 2007
crushed that market.
"We do not know exactly where all the credit creation of this cycle has gone. Certainly money sits
idly as excess reserves, but just as certainly money that would not exist but for unconventional
monetary policy has distorted prices and resource allocation," Redleaf wrote.
He noted that the oil market—which recently crashed from around $100 a barrel to $43 today—may have been overly
inflated by China "buying on easy credit" and other excess money going to oil producers who in turn increased supply.
Redleaf also said that stock markets may similarly be propped up by sovereign wealth funds and the Swiss central bank
owning large amounts of equities.
"There are some parallels with the collapse in home prices which preceded the financial crisis," he explained.
Redleaf has some history in predicting crises.
"Sometime in the next 12 to 18 months, there is going to be a panic in credit markets," Redleaf
wrote to investors in December 2006. "The driver in the credit market panic of 2007 or 2008 will be a sudden,
profound and pervasive loss of faith in the alchemy of structured finance as currently practiced." MORE http://www.cnbc.com/id/102508606 [If Jonathan Cahn is correct look for problems Sept 12 and 13 when the
Shemitah is finishing and the Yovel is about to begin. – rdb]
Solar eclipse, Supermoon, Spring equinox: Friday will see three rare celestial events
Andrew Griffin Monday 16 March 2015
As the eclipse plunges the UK and other places into darkness this Friday, two other rare if less spectacular celestial
events will be taking place, too: a Supermoon and the Spring equinox.
A Supermoon, or perigee moon, happens when the full or new moon does its closest fly-by of the Earth, making it look
bigger than it normally does. And the spring equinox refers to the time of the year when the day and night are of equal
duration, mid-way between the longest and shortest days.
The solar eclipse refers to a phenomenon where the sun and moon line up, so that the latter obscures the former. And
while it won’t be affected by the two other events, it is rare that the three events happen even individually.
Supermoon
Most of the time, there are between three and six Supermoons a year. There is set to be six in 2015, two of which have
already happened. The next will take place on March 20, the day of the eclipse, and the others will come in August,
September and October.
Eclipses can only happen at new moon, when the moon appears is entirely in shadow. And the spectacular Supermoon
images that are often spotted can only happen when the moon is full, since it can only be seen then.
As a result, only the last three Supermoons of this year will be visible — because the moon is new rather than full on
March 20, it won’t be seen. But it will be gliding past us closer than ever, and its shadow will be visible as it blocks out
the sun on Friday morning.
Spring equinox
The equinox will also happen on March 20. While it won’t have any discernable, direct impact on how the solar
eclipse looks, it will contribute to a rare collision of three unusual celestial events.
On March 20, the Earth’s axis will be perpindecular to the sun’s rays — which only happens twice a year, at the two
equinoxes. After that, it will start tipping over, making the days longer in the northern hemisphere.
As such, the equinox has long been celebrated as a time of beginning and renewal, by a number of historic cultures,
and is linked to Easter and Passover.
The equinox will happen at the same time as a solar eclipse in 2053 and 2072, though it doesn’t always appear as close
together as that.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/solar-eclipse-supermoon-spring-equinox-friday-will-see-three-rarecelestial-events-10111592.html
Exclusive: Union Official Says ‘Corporate Greed’ Behind Push for H-1B Visas
by Adelle Nazarian16 Mar 2015Los Angeles, CA
A so-called “war on the American worker” has intensified in the Golden State.
Massive layoffs are being spearheaded by the multi-billion dollar Southern California Edison utilities
company, which is terminating scores of American IT workers and replacing them with immigrant IT
workers, from a slew of foreign counties, who are willing to work for far less compensation. These
immigrants are in the U.S. on an H-1B visa program.
“We don’t need foreign workers. We have plenty of Americans who are fully capable and equipped to carry out these
jobs. It’s an absolute issue of corporate greed; nothing more nothing less,” former Edison employee and Marine Pat Lavin
told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview late last week.
Lavin is a stalwart Democrat who serves as a business manager and financial secretary for the the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #47. “Edison are master liars,” Lavin cautioned, quipping that he
“caught them telling the truth last week and they tried to lie their way out of it.”
Lavin spoke with Breitbart News as one of the California Edison workers laid off in the scandal that Rep. Darrell Issa
(R-CA) and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have hammered the company for.
Grassley called the layoffs “heartless” and Issa argued that this appears to be an abuse of the
program.
America is facing a surplus of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workers
who are unemployed or have been laid off from work due to companies, like SoCal Edison, that have
been outsourcing American jobs to immigrants. According to an article from Robert Charette in IEEE Spectrum,
the so-called “STEM Crisis”—where tech leaders like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who claim they need to
import cheap foreign labor—is a “myth.”
Increasing the number of H1B visas being imported into America to take jobs from American
workers is something that right now is largely supported by the Democratic Party and also has backing
from establishment Republicans like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. It’s also likely to become a major issue in
the 2016 GOP presidential primaries.
“We have this H1B visa program for highly skilled workers and normally the visa is for three to five years,” Bush said
in an interview in 2013 on his book “Immigration Wars.” In that same interview, Bush said it would be “foolish” not to
pass an extension on the H1B program.
But Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Immigration and the
National Interest and has been the most vocal politician in opposition to an extension of the H1B visas. He argues that
Republicans don’t need to be handing out corporate welfare in the form of cheaper foreign labor.
“Do we need to have people come to our country to take those jobs? Or, indeed, do we not have a shortage of workers,
and do we have difficulty of people finding jobs?” Sessions said on the Senate floor last summer in response to Microsoft
layoffs, a situation very similar to Southern California Edison. “The great majority of these guest workers are not farm
workers. They take jobs throughout the economy.”
Despite the entire Democratic Party rallying behind the H1B extension program and
thus abandoning American workers, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is the only loud voice on the
left—other than some local union leaders like Lavin in this Breitbart News interview —calling for an
end to the madness.
“We need to get rid of H1B workers,” Jackson said in a recent interview with Fortune Magazine. “There are
Americans who can do that work, and H1B workers are cheaper and undercut wages.” For now, there are only a handful
of populist Republicans like Sessions and Grassley who are standing up in support of the American worker, which
presents a massive opportunity for Republicans.
“It’s about time the Republicans did something right,” Lavin told Breitbart News. He said the way SoCal Edison is
utilizing and appointing the H1B program, as aligned with the immigration act, is a “misuse and illegal. They’re saying it
creates jobs, but it’s not creating American jobs.” He said it would “ludicrous” that an American company, such as
Edison, “that is vested by American dollars,” is actually taking jobs away from Americans and creating jobs for other
countries, such as India, China and Malaysia.
For the average American worker, an extension of the H1B visa program is an issue that extends into their homes and
onto their plates, where the struggle has become as basic as placing enough food on the table and paying a monthly
mortgage. In the case of SoCal Edison, middle class families are the ones who suffer the most.
“We were told if we wanted our severance that we were required to train our replacement,” a
multiple-decades long-veteran employee of SoCal Edison who spoke with Breitbart News on condition
of anonymity said in an interview. She was terminated this year from her IT position and replaced with
an H1B worker.
This employee invested years of her life working for SoCal Edison but this year found herself jobless, like hundreds of
her peers who were ordered to train their foreign replacements in a process dubbed as “knowledge transfer.” SoCal Edison
stonewalled her and used her severance package as collateral against her. “You’re going to train your replacement if you
want your severance,” she was told.
“I had a lot to walk away from if I didn’t stick around. And I really hoped that I’d be one of the people they’d keep. I
didn’t want to throw in the towel because I had too much to lose; I would lose my severance and my disability.”
She suffers from a physical disability, which amplifies her challenge of finding a job. She told Breitbart
News that she lies awake at night entrenched in fear about how she is going to pay for her children’s education, her
mortgage, and eventually basic necessities such as food.
It’s only a matter of time until those funds run out. After that, “I’ll just have to use government resources and look for
a job,” she told Breitbart News. “And I recently found out disability sucks. You can’t even eat on the amount,” she added.
Several employees have come forward recently saying that SoCal Edison had used intimidation tactics such as telling
them they would replace one worker with 4, 5, or 6 foreign workers on H1B visas, in an attempt to pressure them into
taking a pay cut. Lavin, however, contends that these were lies and that the reality of what is happening is that SoCal
Edison is replacing $95,000 annual wage earners with foreigners who will take $60,000 to $65,000 instead.
He insisted that the H1-B visas should be used to replace the Congressmen and women who are in favor of an
extension on it, suggesting it might result in more logical leadership and legislation. “Maybe we should farm the Congress
out to H1B. We might get a better product out of it; people who actually make sense.” http://www.breitbart.com/biggovernment/2015/03/16/exclusive-union-official-says-corporate-greed-behind-push-for-h-1b-visas/ [This is the role of government
today? – rdb]
Prayer for the IDF - Mi Sheberach, Yaakov Shwekey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJEpLklULs0
THE SHORASHIM BIBLICAL GIFT CATALOG 005
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Netanyahu to Bennett: Relax, There Will be No Unity Government
Prime Minister Netanyahu seeks to assure Jewish Home chairman that he will not form a unity government with the
“Zionist Union”.
By Ido Ben Porat and Elad Benari
First Publish: 3/17/2015, 1:13 AM
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening sought to assure Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett that
he will not form a unity government with the joint Labor-Hatnua’s “Zionist Union”.
The comments came after Tzipi Livni, one of the heads of the joint list, announced that she was giving up her rotation
agreement with co-chair Yitzhak Herzog, which would have had her serve as Prime Minister for half a term if the Zionist
Union headed the coalition.
Responding to Livni’s announcement, Bennett claimed that the move is a precursor towards the
establishment of a unity government between the Likud and the Zionist Union, saying, "Tonight the
Bibi-Buji unity government was formed. We said this a few weeks ago and no one believed us. ''
“Just last night, Netanyahu attacked Herzog saying he is willing to divide Jerusalem, and tonight it turns out that he is
establishing a government with him," Bennett added.
Netanyahu later responded by saying, "Bennett can relax. There will not be a unity government with the Labor party
and such a government cannot be established. There are deep gaps between us.”
He added, “The only government we will form is with the parties from the nationalist camp. But in order for this to
happen the Likud needs to close the gap with the Labor party - that’s the only way we’ll win.”
Right-wing politicians, a number of them from the Likud, took no time in expressing their ire at Livni’s announcement
earlier Monday, particularly the fact it took place the night before elections.
Netanyahu was similarly accusatory, telling Channel 2 that Livni and Herzog are in a panic over the narrowing gap (in
the polls) between Likud and Labor.
"This just proves how necessary it is to close that gap and win," the Prime Minister stressed.
"Two things are evident: the first is that they are lying - either that they lied before or they're lying now. The second
thing - they are unable to handle the pressure."
"If they can't withstand the pressure of the polls, how will they be able to handle international pressure?" Netanyahu
pondered. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192729#.VQeNfY4-0xg
Another Livni Flip-Flop? 'I'm a Full Partner' With Herzog
3/17/2015, Adar 26, 5775
Did she or didn't she? On Sunday, Tzipi Livni told reporters that her rotation deal – in which she would become Prime
Minister in two years, after Yitzhak Herzog had a “turn,” assuming Zionist Union/Labor formed the government, was
definitely on. On Monday, she announced that she was giving up the rotation idea, in order to improve the party's chances
at the polls.
But on Tuesday, Livni appeared to flip-flop yet again. Speaking in an interview on Channel Two, Livni said that
“Herzog and I have an understanding that we will both be governing the country. The rotation is part of our partnership.”
MORE - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/320857#.VQgb0Y4-0xg [Too Fickle to be a leader! – rdb]
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